Durham, West earn Top-20’s in Giant Slalom for Saints at NCAA Regionals

Saturday, February 23, 2013 - 1:03 am

The St. Lawrence University alpine ski teams raced in the giant slalom on Friday at the 2013 NCAA Regional Championships, hosted by Bates College at Sunday River. Seniors Ashley-Kate Durham and Ann West led the way with top-20 finishes in the women's competition.

Durham recorded her 28th career top-20 in 15th place overall on Friday. The Timmins, ON native raced in a combined time of 2:42.60 to earn 26.0 points for the Saints in the standings. Durham, who has solidified a bid to the 2013 NCAA Championships, jumped up the leaderboard with a second run time of 1:19.92, the 8th-fastest time in the field.

West also had a solid showing in the GS, picking up her second top-20 finish of the season in 19th position. Despite the pair of top-20's, St. Lawrence would finish in ninth place as a team, as Maria Hillenbrand's 45th place showing would cap the team's scoring at 55.0 points.

First-year Amie Lonza was 56th overall, while Ciar Colgan and Hannah Kadah did not finish their second runs. The Saints were without sophomore Allison Visconti, who is working her way back from an injury but remains in the hunt for an NCAA bid with only one race left on the EISA Carnival schedule.

Senior Jeremy Lawless was the top finisher on the men's side for St. Lawrence, clocking in at 2:37.94 to pick up 20.0 points for 24th place. However, the Saints would struggle with two DNF's from Ben DeFlavio and Graham Scott, and settled for 11th place as a team with 30.0 points. Dustin Martin and Nick Stenicka capped the scoring in 45th and 56th place, respectively.

Scott was the most unfortunate finish for the Scarlet and Brown, as he was sitting in 11th position after the first run with a time of 1:18.33. The Chelsea, QC native has also already solidified his spot in the NCAA Championship field.

Dartmouth College won the women's GS, while UVM held off Middlebury by only 2.0 points on the men's side. Harvard's Rebecca Nadler won the individual women's title while David Donaldson of Middlebury claimed the men's crown.

The St. Lawrence alpine teams will compete in the slalom on Saturday, the final event of the EISA season. NCAA qualifying berths will be announced shortly after completion of those races, with Allison Visconti hoping to hang on to her spot and Jeremy Lawless trying to earn his way into the field.